


Between Heartbeats

by Swietek93



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, I’m very sorry, The other Avengers and characters make small appearances, it’s very sad, there is no happy ending, this is very angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 06:06:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19351012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swietek93/pseuds/Swietek93
Summary: I’m not sure where this came from guys. It’s really fucking sad. I’m really sorry.This is un-beta’d. I also wrote this in like an hour. If there’s any glaring mistakes let me know.





	Between Heartbeats

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not sure where this came from guys. It’s really fucking sad. I’m really sorry.
> 
> This is un-beta’d. I also wrote this in like an hour. If there’s any glaring mistakes let me know.

  
- **beep** \-    
  


_ Steve watched Natasha as Lila Barton ran headfirst into her aunt’s arms. Natasha snatched up the little girl and spun her in a hug before kissing the child’s forehead. _

 

_ “Auntie Nat! I’m gonna be a ballerina!” Lila shrieked in excitement. _

 

_ All smiles, Natasha nuzzled the girl’s brown curls and said, “you’ll be the best ballerina they’ve ever seen!”  _

 

_ Steve caught Natasha’s eye, a look of longing crossing her face before she schooled her expression once more. _

 

- **beep** -   
  
_ Natasha twirled away from Steve’s embrace, then back again as they danced across the floor. They were celebrating their victory with dancing. Natasha had learned that Steve had never been dancing and wanted to remedy that. So she dragged him out to a bar an hour away from the compound.  _

 

_ It took some time to get him up on his feet and even longer to get him to actually move. He was so reluctant.  _

 

_ Finally, awkwardly, he took some steps. But he was a fast learner. In no time he was twisting and twirling and dancing across the floor with Natasha in his arms. The two laughed with each other, the smiles never leaving their faces. _

 

_ As they left the bar, hours later, Natasha threaded her arm through his as they walked back to the car, her head resting on his shoulder. _

 

_ “Thank you, Nat.” Steve said quietly, his lips pressed into her hair in an affectionate kiss. _

 

_ “My pleasure.” _

  
- **beep** -   
  
_ “Are you insane?!” Steve shouted.  _

 

_ Natasha glared at Steve. Her uniform was torn and bloody. A medic stood working stitches into her shoulder. _

 

_ “I knew exactly what I was doing, Rogers. I had it under control.” Her words were measured and cool. Aside from the glare she was directing his way, he could almost believe she was unaffected entirely. _

 

_ “Like hell you did!” He threw his hands up in the air. “You almost got yourself killed with that stunt!” _

 

_ “I got the package!” She said dismissively.  _

 

_ “I don’t care about the damn package, I care about you! You could’ve been killed!” He wasn’t going to let this go. “You’re too damn stubborn to accept help from your teammates. You go off half-cocked on a one-woman mission. To hell with any of us! You just have to do it your way, with or without your team!” _

 

_ Steve paced away a few steps. With his back to her, he said with finality, “you’re benched.” _

 

_ “What?!” She nearly shrieked.   _

 

_ His only response was, “If you don’t want to work on a team, you won’t.” _

 

_ He walked out. _

 

- **beep** -   
  
_ Natasha sat on the edge of her bed staring at the frame on her nightstand. One of very few she kept in her quarters at the compound. It held a picture of the team. They were all laughing, sitting in the common room of the compound. It showed up in everyone’s inbox the morning after it had been taken. FRIDAY had been the culprit. The AI took the still frame from the security feed and sent it to each of the team.  _

 

_ Natasha stared at the photo for a long time. _

 

_ “May I come in?” Steve’s soft voice interrupted her thoughts. Her eyes flicked up to his briefly then back to the frame. _

 

_ Steve quietly entered the room and sat next to her on the bed. His shoulder gently brushing against hers. _

 

_ “I’m sorry about what I said this afternoon.”  _

 

_ Natasha remained silent, but Steve noticed she gripped her hands tighter together.  _

 

_ “I know it’s hard for you to trust people. But we’re your team Nat, your family.” He continued. He reached for her hand, surprised that she allowed him to take it in his own. He was even more surprised when she gripped it as tight as she’d been gripping her own.  _

 

_ “I’m sorry.”  _

 

_ Her words were so quiet Steve had to strain to hear them.  _

 

_ He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest, his lips pressed against her hair. _

 

- **beep** \-    
  
_ Nat smiled as the team sat around the room laughing and talking. It had been a hell of a fight, but they were no worse for wear.  _

 

_ Steve landed on the couch to her left, dragging her against his bulky frame. She didn’t fight against it, simply allowed him to arrange them. She ended up half on top of him as they reclined against the side of the couch. _

 

_ As he threaded his hands through her hair she said, “Once upon a time, I would never have let you do this, let alone in public.” _

 

_ He scoffed lightly. “I’d hardly call this public, Nat. It’s our livingroom.” _

 

_ She rolled her eyes and swatted his chest playfully. He grabbed and held her hand. _

 

_ “We are in front of other people. That’s public enough for me.” She stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled. _

 

_ “In front of people you trust. People you call family.” _

 

_ “Yeah,” she sighed happily. “Guess they are family.” _

  
- **beep** \-    
  
_ “Tony on your six!” Steve spoke into the comm.  _

 

_ “I’ve got him!” Natasha answer. Steve saw the alien go down not a moment later. _

 

_ “Thank, Widow.”  _

 

_ “Anytime.”  _

 

_ “Widow look out!” Clint’s voice broke through the over the comm.  _

 

_ Steve watched in horror as the alien reached Natasha, lifted her into the air and hurled her across the field. _

 

_ “Nat!”  _

 

_ Steve saw her land hard against the rocks. He saw her head snap back.  _

 

_ He saw everything. _

 

- **beep** -   
  
_ Seconds that felt like hours passed. Steve dropped to his knees beside Natasha.  Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow.  _

 

_ “Hold on, Nat.” He couldn’t move her much without risking more injury, but he could tell she was bleeding badly. He carefully ran his fingers over the back of her skull. _

 

_ “Hold on, baby.” He choked on his fear. His fingers came away bloody. _

 

_ “Hold on.” _

  
- **beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee** \-    
  
Steve couldn’t move. He could barely breathe.

 

The doctors quietly unhooked the machines, leaving the room in a deafening silence. 

 

Then, he was alone. 

 

He fell apart.

 

He collapsed into the chair by her beside, his head dropping into his hands as tears poured from his eyes. Sobs wracked his body as he struggled to accept that fact that his partner was gone.

 

He couldn’t tell how much time had passed before a hand gently landed on his shoulder, offering a squeeze of comfort. He looked up at his team, his family,  _ her _ family. He saw the grief and sadness he felt mirrored in their eyes.

 

Wanda reached out a hand. A lifeline.

 

As they lead him out of the room, he wanted to look back one more time, but he resisted.

 

He thought of her smile, her smirk, her playful rolling of her eyes. Her tears of joy and even sadness. Her anger and laughter. 

 

This was how he wanted to remember her. 

  
  
  



End file.
